IN MEMORIAM, NO DEATH BENEFITS: TSA and airports workers around the country took a moment of silence ( http://1.usa.gov/1bscMvd) last Friday for TSA screener Gerardo Hernandez, the first employee killed on the job in the agency’s more than a decade-long history. But his widow and children may not qualify for hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra benefits and scholarships that go to families of police officers and FBI agents who die in the line of duty. The reason is something that John Mica and others have pointed out: TSA workers aren’t law enforcement. That means DOJ rules governing who can get the extra benefits don’t apply for the TSA. It’s a problem the agency never before encountered in its 12-year history. “TSA is working closely with the Hernandez family and DOJ to determine eligibility for funds under the Public Safety Officers Benefits program,” a TSA spokesman told Kevin. More in his story: http://politico.pro/1hy6NMA

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THE WEEK AHEAD — Tuesday: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan unveil a new “Location Affordability Portal” that lets people figure out their combined housing and transportation costs, which can be a huge part of household budgets in some areas.

Wednesday: The Washington legislature has acted to ensure Boeing’s new 777X is built in the state, but this week there’s a vote on a union contact ( http://lat.ms/17YszmH) that’s integral to it all working out. In D.C., the Eno Center for Transportation’s aviation policy forum has some big names — FAA head Michael Huerta, former FAA heads Marion Blakey and Randy Babbitt, and former DOT boss Norm Mineta. Jeh Johnson gets a confirmation hearing and could face questions on airport security after the LAX shooting.

Thursday: There’s a trio of morning hearings: A House Homeland Security panel meets on the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program and lessons learned from the LAX shooting. John Mica’s Oversight subcommittee hears testimony on Amtrak’s financial losses for food and beverage service, and House T&I meets to review Sandy recover a year later.

TAXES HUGELY POPULAR: When they fund specific transportation projects, that is. Congress might not be fixing the transportation funding crisis, but voters in towns and counties around the country are voting to tax themselves for better transportation, from street upgrades in Scottsville, Ariz., to a new bus service in Grays Harbor County, Wash. ARTBA was proud to announce that 38 of 45 transportation-related measures on the November ballot passed. And APTA noted that six transit measures passed and only one was narrowly defeated. Most of all these measure are funded by new taxes — and while the people might be voting for higher taxes, members of Congress haven’t done that for transportation in two decades. Kathryn has the story: http://politico.pro/1azCawp

THE ELEVENTH DAY OF THE ELEVENTH MONTH. Thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports, where today we celebrate Veterans Day by noting that 95 years ago today World War I ended when Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. Please send in your war-ending scoops, tips or news: asnider@politico.com. And follow me on Twitter: @AdamKSnider.

“Sunday gone I jump on a mini bus/ I really late but it's not my fault …” http://bit.ly/19T6Rkd (h/t Matt Daily)

OBAMA’S TRANS-PORT TALK: President Barack Obama talked a decent amount of transportation when he was at the Port of New Orleans on Friday, hitting on roads, bridges, airports, and (of course) ports. Notably, he talked about transportation investments in the context of a broader budget deal aimed at improving the economy. A key bit from the transcript: “So what we have to do now is do what America has always done: Make some wise investments in our people and in our country that will help us grow over the long term. We should close wasteful tax loopholes that don’t help our jobs, don't grow our economy, and then invest that money in things that actually do create jobs and grow our economy. And one of those things is building new roads and bridges and schools and ports. That creates jobs. (Applause.) It puts people to work during the construction phase. And then it creates an infrastructure for our economy to succeed moving forward.” Full remarks via TID: http://bit.ly/19UkDDb

Back in NAM: The manufacturers’ group used the president’s speech to weigh in on trade agreements and look forward to passage of the “critical legislation” that is the water bill. http://bit.ly/1iYr7lF

Counterpoint: “Despite his repeated claims to the contrary, President Obama’s record on transportation infrastructure is one of failure,” CEI’s Marc Scribner said. “The White House has been largely absent from the major transportation debates since the administration’s early unsuccessful efforts to promote an incredibly costly and inefficient national high-speed passenger rail system.” More in a post titled “President Obama Still Doesn’t Get It On Transportation Reform”: http://bit.ly/1deCp3Z

WE’VE BEEN HERE FOR YEARS: A super-fast maglev train that could get you from D.C. to New York City in an hour — it might be far from reality, but there’s already a way to get between the two cities quickly. Air Line Pilots Association President Lee Moak said his group “agrees that investing in new technology to enhance transportation infrastructure is critical to driving the U.S. economy and our country’s ability to compete on the world stage,” and pointed out that NextGen can do just that. “Unfortunately, significant cuts and delays are keeping the U.S. from modernizing its airspace and continuing to outpace our competitors in the broader and more critical area of air transportation. Our government leaders must keep the priority on existing national transportation infrastructure plans that will have the greatest and most immediate benefit for the traveling public and our country’s economic future, rather than shifting focus to a far more narrow, risky, and expensive project,” Moak said.

A DEBATE REIGNITED: With the Lac-Mégantic crash that killed 47 people still fresh in mind, a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in Alabama. Pressure built up and breached the tank, starting a fire. With the final Keystone XL pipeline decision still looming, the crash is yet another thing pipeline proponents can point to. Pro’s Talia Buford has the story: http://politico.pro/1dWQHHy

AMTRAK JOE — WHOOPI EDITION: Vice President Joe Biden was on the Amtrak again Friday and ran into actress Whoopi Goldberg. It was random, Biden’s office says, but the two ended up sitting together. Picture proof on POLITICO: http://politi.co/17NkXFM

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)

- The NTSB is investigating a fatal small plane crash in Owasso, Okla., on Sunday. Twitter: http://bit.ly/17O0Sz9

- Senior T&I member (and former chairman) Don Young had chest pains last week but “was given a clean bill of health and is in excellent spirits,” his office said. Statement: http://1.usa.gov/16TXy2w

- The Silver Spring Metro station was closed temporarily Sunday after a woman was hit by a train; she later died. WJLA: http://wj.la/16UIv8C

THE COUNTDOWN: Surface transportation policy is up in 324 days and FAA policy in 689 days. The mid-term elections are in 358 days. DOT appropriations run out in 66 days.

CABOOSE — Invisible bike helmet: Now this is cool. A Swedish duo has invented — and raised $10 million in venture capital for — an “invisible” bike helmet. The futuristic-looking device straps around your neck and a helmet pops out and surrounds your head in a fraction of a second if there’s an impact. The pair has put a ton of work into the idea — but why? “Cars are so yesterday. Bikes are the future,” one of the two female founders says. Check out the a three-minute video and more on Jalopnik: http://bit.ly/1i09DYC

** A message from the U.S. Travel Association: To make America competitive again, we need to be connected, to each other and the world. America has zero airports ranked in the top 25 globally, and that's more than just an embarrassment—it's a missed opportunity. Travel is critical to our country's trade balance, since it accounts for ten percent of all exports, and supports one in nine American jobs. If we're not connected through modern airports, America loses out. Investment in our country's infrastructure is an investment in connectivity, which is vital for our people, our economy, and our place on the global stage. Learn more: http://bit.ly/1QLPK5L **

Authors:

About The Author

Adam Snider is a transportation reporter for POLITICO Pro and author of Morning Transportation. He has covered transportation since 2007, joining POLITICO in 2011 to launch MT and later found the word “Mica-ism.”

Snider is a fan of all modes of transportation, though nothing beats a good silly walk. In his spare time, he can be found brewing a hoppy beer, rooting for the Nationals, watching a bad 1970s horror movie or exploring the District from his home base in Mount Pleasant.

Adam studied English and communications at Clemson University in South Carolina. His work has been featured by Nieman Journalism Lab and his snark has appeared on MSNBC. He has had several works of fiction published in literary journals and is constantly reminded of his proclamation to a fiction professor many years ago that journalism is for sellouts who abandon their creative dreams.